Garlic: Our Ingredient of the Week

Each week in Food & Party, we'll be featuring an "Ingredient of the Week" -- paying homage to some of our favorite ingredients all week long with buying and storage tips, recipes, and other useful information.

This week's featured ingredient is: Garlic.

My dad can't eat garlic because it stays with him for days and days, much to the disgust of everyone around him. He's okay with avoiding the stinking rose -- I guess he has to be -- but I can't fathom eating or cooking without it!

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Thanks to my dad, I grew up oblivious to garlic's wonderfully aromatic properties -- but now that I'm away from home, you can bet the bulb is a staple in my pantry. It's not only one of the best ways to season food, but it's one of the healthiest things you can eat. Plus, some people think garlic is a powerful cold remedy (although, in my opinion, the jury's still out on that one). We buy fresh garlic bulbs at the grocery store, but I also love buying the fresh green garlic stalks at the farmers' market in the spring.

Here's my favorite way to eat garlic -- roasted!

Chop off the top of a head of fresh garlic, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, cover with foil, and bake in the over for 30 to 35 minutes at 400 degrees F. You can eat the cloves whole, spread over toasted baguette, top homemade pizza, or mash up and add to recipes for a rich, roasted flavor.